On this spot the green flag dropped
for twenty-three sports cars to start the first road race in the United States after World
War II. It was October 2, a beautiful, crisp Saturday in 1948. The event, sanctioned by
the Sports Car Club of America, (SCCA) sponsored by the village of Watkins Glen and
attended by an estimated 5,000 spectators, marked the beginning of a racing era at
Waktkins Glen, and throughout the country. It was the first closed-circuit race in the
country following WWII to be run on public roads. The 6.6 mile course started at this spot
with a quarter mile straight on Franklin Street, turned sharp right on Old Corning Hill
Road, with a steep climb to the White House esses, across a plateau to School House
Corner, then a rapid descent to Cornett's Stone Bridge, up again over serpentine oiled
gravel to a sharp right at Archie Smith's dirt surfaced corner, down a slightly bent, fast
straight to the railroad crossing, where the New York Central held up trains for the
races, leading to a mile long descent into the village 'round a long sweeping right hand
bend on cement - then macadam, climaxed by an abrupt 25 mph left, a split second straight
with a hard right onto Franklin Street back past the start/finish line.
At the
end of four laps, fifteen cars qualified for the main event which ran eight laps. Eleven
cars finished the race.
In
1952, the last year the circuit was used, there were more than one hundred entrants!
The
course may be toured today over the same roads marked with signs identifying the special
features of the circuit. |
Starting Grid for the 1948 Race
CLASS A: Less than 1.5 Litres Engine
Displacement |
car
no. |
model |
|
driver |
|
|
2 |
MG
TC Supercharged |
Cameron
Argetsinger |
3 |
MG
TC |
Dean
Bedford, Jr. |
7 |
MG
TC |
Denver
B. Cornett |
14 |
MG
TC |
Williams
F. Gallagher |
20 |
MG
J4 Midget |
Otto
Linton |
29 |
MG
TC |
Phil
Stiles |
|
CLASS B: 1.5 to 3.0 Litres Engine
Displacement |
car
no. |
model |
|
driver |
|
|
4 |
Jaguar
SS-1 |
George
F. Boardman |
5 |
B.N.C.
Type 527 |
George
C. Caswell |
25 |
MG
TC Supercharged |
Miles
Collier |
24 |
MG
TC Supercharged |
Sam
Collier |
16 |
Bugatti
T38 |
Bob
Gegen |
35 |
Alfa
Romeo 8C 2900 |
Frank
T. Griswold |
17 |
Alfa
Romeo 6C 1750 |
George
S. Hendrie |
8 |
MG
TC Supercharge |
Haig
Ksayian |
21 |
Bugatti
T35A |
William
Milliken, Jr. |
|
CLASS C: 3.0 to 4.5 Litres Engine
Displacement |
car
no. |
model |
|
driver |
|
|
33 |
Duesenberg
1930 |
J.
J. Brundage |
12 |
Vauxhall
OE 30/98 |
George
Felton |
18 |
Merlin
Special |
Kenneth
F. Hill |
31 |
Maserati
V8RI |
George
Weaver |
32 |
BB
Black Hawk |
Dudley
C. Wilson |
|
CLASS D: More Than 4.5 Litres Engine
Displacement |
car
no. |
model |
|
driver |
|
|
1 |
Mercedes
Benz S |
Charles
S. Addams |
9 |
BuMerc
Special |
Briggs
Cunningham |
30 |
Lagonda
Rapide |
Mike
Vaughn |
|